“Far Cry 5:” Balthazor praises innovation of new video game

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Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

“Far Cry 5” takes the “Far Cry” series to a place it has never been before; America. Specifically, Montana in the fictional Hope County.

The game opens with your character, the rookie, in a helicopter with a U.S. Marshal, the local sheriff and two of his deputies. You eventually land in the compound of a cult, Eden’s Gate, to apprehend their leader, Joseph Seed.

Your mission is to arrest him as quietly as possible. As you can expect, things go south when you try to leave, and Seed is able to escape and all of the other occupants of the helicopter are taken by cultists.

Things appear to be pretty bad at the beginning of the game. The entire county is controlled by the cult and resistance movements don’t seem to be having much effect. So it becomes your job to rid the county of the cult threat.

The game map is divided into three regions: The Whitetail Mountains, The Henbane River and Holland River, which are controlled by Joseph Seed’s lieutenants: John, Faith and Jacob. Each of his lieutenants are distinctly different.

John is in charge of keeping the cult’s image favorable and he baptizes new members. He also “cleanses sinners,” which is generally done through torture.

Faith controls the cult’s workforce. She convinces people to work for the cult through the use of a drug called “Bliss” which essentially fries people’s minds and turns them into zombie-like beings to do the cult’s dirty work.

Jacob is in charge of training the cult’s militia. He also uses brainwashing techniques to trick prisoners into killing members of the local resistance.

Overall, the three lieutenants are distinctly different from each other in their ways of serving the cult. More importantly, they are all significantly creepy in their own ways, which is a big help in developing the culture of the cult.

“Far Cry 5” also innovates on the series’ map design. While in past “Far Cry” games, “towers” had to be climbed to access different parts of the map and the various activities and quests within them, “Far Cry 5” does away with this aspect of the game.

Instead, you can explore the map freely and you find out about different missions from either walking into them on accident or by making conversation with the locals who may offer a tip about a nearby mission.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons The flag of Far Cry 5, as seen in the video game.

Overall, “Far Cry 5” is a phenomenal game in the freedom it gives the player and creativeness is shows in its storytelling and game design, while still maintaining accessibility to players new to the series. “Far Cry 5” is a must buy game for anyone with an interest in gaming.